Name: To Roast a Turkey
Ingredients: 1 turkey; coarse sea salt; mixed pepper; flour; ½ lb melted veal fat; 1 lb veal sausages; gravy; watercress for garnish

Why it works: Flour and watercress match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 340 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

To Roast a Turkey

Ingredients

Directions

Soak the turkey in water and salt, then drain and dry it with a clean cloth.
Prepare the stuffing and fill the turkey's breast, sewing the skin closed.
Rub the outside with mixed pepper and salt, then lightly flour it.
Place the turkey in a dry dish and let it rest for 1 hour.
Cover the breast with greased white paper to prevent scorching.
Remove the paper 1 hour before roasting, dredge with flour to create a frothy appearance.
Ensure the fire is brisk and baste the turkey with melted veal fat.
Roast for 2 hours, serving with fried veal sausages and gravy, garnished with watercress.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Flour + watercresstop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together340 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pepper + watercresstop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together983 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Turkey + peppertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,636 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Turkey + vealtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together393 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together50,459 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).